God? It's Me -- Alan

I'm not sure what happened or the exact moment this happened, but I remember a week or so ago I was walking home from the subway, listening to some music. Feelings and memories started rushing up to me.

I was in Hershey Stadium a few years back at a DCI competition. Carolina Crown had just taken the field.

Then I was in the Broadway Theater watching "Blast."

Then I was on the stage at Grand Street playing "Sanctuary" by Tichelli.

Then I was at the 1984 Olympics. Then college. Then high school.

I was everywhere, and the same emotion was welling up inside me.

Music, to me, is sort of a Divine communication. To me, it's the voice of God. I know that sounds kind of flaky, but I kept recalling moments where music transcended it's physical boundaries and became almost ... organic. It washed over me like a wave and I was merely its vessel.

I go to church regularly, and while I'm there I thank God for the gift of Music and ask that he allow me to use it to please him. In truth, I'm asking for him to give me the opportunity to do more with it than I already am.

And all of this time travel made it clear to me: I already was. Every time I pick up my horn, I'm the vessel for the voice of God. And therefore, every time I play, I just want to play my best -- not to please anyone or to advance myself in any way, but to communicate God's voice as clearly and as beautifully as possible.

This is it. This is why I play. This is why making music is as important to me as breathing. It doesn't have to make me rich, or famous, or even liked. I Make Music, and that is enough.